Chapter 112 The Golden Hook Fishing - Twenty-Six Saved
A silver moon hangs high, the night is dark and starless. Nestled among the trees, beside a stream, sits a wooden house, wisps of smoke rising slowly into the sky.
Xu Zhiyu sat by the charcoal fire, holding a bowl of hot soup in her hands. She looked up and around, her gaze following the people coming out of the kitchen. She couldn't help but sigh, "I never thought I would meet my compatriots in this remote mountain island."
The middle-aged man smiled, a hint of melancholy creeping into his voice: "Fate is a fickle thing. Although this place is secluded, you are not the first guests I have ever received."
As evening fell, Lin Xingmian spotted a faint light in the woods emanating from this wooden cabin. On a whim, she knocked on the door. When it opened, she found a middle-aged man in a long robe, with a slightly long beard, looking somewhat like someone from ancient times. After speaking with him, she learned that he was a Taoist priest who lived in seclusion there.
Xu Zhiyu was surprised and stunned when she heard the other person introduce himself as a Taoist priest. She never thought that there really were Taoist priests living in seclusion in the mountains. Moreover, this unknown island was really too remote and desolate. She wondered if the Taoist priest was lonely living here all by himself.
"Does sir mean that someone else has come here before? Did they also get lost and find their way here by chance? Or did they come specifically to visit you?" The soup in her hand was very light, with only a few vegetable leaves, but after taking a sip, she felt refreshed and comfortable all over.
The Taoist priest said, "Just like you."
“I see…” Xu Zhiyu nodded.
The cabin was not shabby; it was fully equipped with daily necessities, as well as many old books and talismans.
Lin Xingmian looked around the household items in the house with a meaningful gaze and asked, "How do you usually buy your daily necessities, sir? I think you must have your own way of returning to the mainland. Could you take us back with you? We didn't get lost on vacation this time; there are special circumstances. I guess our families are very worried and searching for us everywhere."
The Taoist priest looked troubled: "I do have my own methods... but I'm sorry I can't reveal them to you."
Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiyu's heart sank again. She had thought that meeting the Taoist priest in the woods meant she could finally go home, so she cautiously said, "You must have a cell phone, right? Could we borrow it to make a call home?"
"I'm sorry, I really don't have any communication tools. Besides, this island is not within the range of our country's satellite signal deployment. We live in seclusion so far away from people because we don't want to have any contact with society, so naturally we don't use any communication devices."
Xu Zhiyu stared at him in disbelief, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Lin Xingmian keenly caught the key words in the Taoist's words: "You...you?"
“Oh…right.” The Taoist priest poked at the charcoal fire in the basin and continued, “I’m not the only Taoist priest on this island.”
Just as Lin Xingmian was about to ask more questions, the Taoist priest interrupted him, saying, "Although I can't help you go home, I can help you contact your families. I don't go to the mainland often, usually only once a year to buy groceries. Tomorrow at dawn, I will take you to my junior sister's place. She goes to the mainland more frequently and should be able to help you send a message to your family."
The world is full of wonders. Xu Zhiyu and her younger brother exchanged a glance and swallowed hard in disbelief.
Send a message...send a message.
It's really complicated.
However, having even one solution at present is already a good thing.
...
.
Two days later, in the study of Yunyue Manor.
"Ask yourself honestly, in the past few years with me, in terms of food, clothing, and daily necessities, whether it's material things, living conditions, or emotional care, in what way have I treated you badly? I trusted and cherished you so much, and what I got in return was this kind of scheming and treacherous behavior from you?"
Looking at the pitiful woman with teary eyes, Lin Shukai could not associate her with malice, cruelty, or indifference.
He gritted his teeth. It was betrayal again, betrayal once more!
What kind of fate does Lin Shukai have in this life?
"Where have you treated me badly? Yes, on the surface you seem to care about me and show concern, but don't you know what I really want? Lin Shukai, you say I'm cold, but you're the one who's as cold as a stone! When have you ever looked at me with your eyes? I'm a person too, a living, breathing person, not your puppet or anyone's substitute! I just want your love, I just want a home for us and our child! Why can't you forget her? Why can't you forget that bitch! Huh??"
"Qin Kemeng!!!"
He watched as the usually gentle and graceful woman became hysterical like a madwoman in front of him. Her gentle moments from the past flashed before his eyes, and now she felt like a stranger to him. He could not tolerate others harming his son, nor could he tolerate her rudely calling Xiao Dai a "bitch." But what Lin Shukai could not tolerate the most was that Qin Kemeng, whom he had chosen from among all kinds of women, had lost her gentleness.
"Shukai, I don't understand, didn't you like me even a little bit when we got together?" She cried, kneeling on the ground and tugging at his trouser leg.
"Did you go to all this trouble to come to my side because you liked me?" Lin Shukai looked down at him with disdain and contempt in his eyes. He was as arrogant as a wolf. "I made it very clear to you from the very beginning that if you were determined to be with me, you had to treat my son as your own. I can give you a lot of money, but I can't give you a single bit of love. I haven't changed from beginning to end, and you agreed to it willingly back then. It was my indulgence and trust that fueled your desires, Qin Kemeng. You're the one who changed. You're too greedy."
He scoffed and said, "No, it's possible that you haven't changed at all from beginning to end. It's just that my eyesight is too poor to see the flaws in your acting."
Has she changed?
Qin Kemeng was speechless with anger by his heartless words, leaving her only able to cry.
Because he was right, she had changed. She had broken her promise and, in the course of spending every day together, had despicably fallen in love with him. She had fallen in love with a man who already had someone else in his heart, and was still delusional enough to think that he could love her back, even just a little bit.
As if possessed, she numbly uttered, "Even if... even if he's dead, it's still not enough? Shukai, do you think we could make up if Lin Xingmian weren't here?"
Lin Shukai laughed again, his eyes filled with a sharp, piercing glint: "As long as I can't find my son, you and your family won't have a good day."
After he finished speaking, he strode briskly towards the door. However, Qin Kemeng, standing behind him, shed her previous pitiful expression and coldly laughed, "The sea is so vast, and three days have passed with no news. You can just wait to collect their corpses. Your son is head over heels in love with that poor girl, but you don't need to be so nervous. He'd probably be overjoyed if they died together, hahaha..."
Lin Shukai saw Qin Kemeng, half-mad and half-awake, slumped on the ground behind him in the full-length mirror by the door. His heart, which had long since turned cold, was now devoid of any obsession. He was still angry. He put his trembling hands into his pockets. Her disheveled hair instantly pulled him back to the day they first met. She was wearing a green cheongsam, her every step graceful and obedient.
Life is unpredictable. How could he have made such a disgraceful scene in his family affairs?
Without saying a word, he walked straight out, leaving behind only a cold, distant figure.
Watching him leave, Qin Kemeng suddenly became agitated again: "Lin Shukai! Just you wait, I won in the end! She lost, I won! It's all mine! All mine! Hahaha... Lin Shukai, you're so pathetic... Hahaha..."
She laughed until she could hardly breathe, but at the end of her laughter came unstoppable tears. Yes, he was the most pitiful person in the world. His father didn't love him, his mother didn't care for him, his wife abandoned him, and his son hated him to the bone. What a fool! That's it! That's it! He dreamed of having a home, she knew! She knew him best!
But why?
She was clearly the one who could give him this family, so why did he cling to that ruin and refuse to leave, even though he was utterly devastated?
Because he's an idiot!
They are the most pitiful people in the world!
That must be it.
...
The night the affair was exposed, Qin Kemeng immediately severed all ties with Chen Hui. She had already made arrangements for her escape route. She hadn't been staying at Yunyue Manor for nothing these past few years. She colluded with Derek to gradually replace all the people in the manor with her own people. Lin Shukai was a meticulous man. Even though he trusted Qin Kemeng completely, he refused to change the person in the bamboo house where Lin Xingmian lived. It wasn't until recently, when the focus of the entire manor shifted to this graduation banquet, that Qin Kemeng finally got the opportunity to place people in that bamboo house.
She had considered what to do if things were exposed, but she hadn't expected Lin Shukai to be so well-informed! Even more unexpected was that he could suspect her so quickly! But none of that mattered. What was most hateful was that Chen Hui and his gang of bastards had done a poor job. She hated that little beast to the core. Not being able to watch Lin Xingmian die was something she could never die in peace!
Qin Kemeng lay on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying.
It's so bitter, so bitter!
Her heart was already riddled with abscesses, and the painful memories mercilessly punctured these abscesses, causing bitterness to seep into her blood. She vowed never to be a human again in her next life, but to be a tree.
...
.
To prevent Derek from absconding with the money, Lin Shukai temporarily detained him at the villa. Due to the suddenness of the situation, he had to temporarily transfer a trusted confidant from the company to his home to help manage affairs. Three days was enough time for Lin Shukai to deal with these family members; having grown up in a wealthy family, he was accustomed to such plots to seize family assets, and his handling was naturally calm and efficient. However, he had always been cautious when such things happened among his elders, but he never expected that what was bound to happen would happen. When it actually happened to him, the disappointment outweighed the pain.
"Mr. Lin, Miss Rong is on the phone."
"Who?" Lin Shukai was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and said knowingly, "Oh, Rong Xian, I guess."
Assistant: "It's Miss Rong Dai."
Lin Shukai remained silent for a moment, then took the phone: "Hello."
The sound of a woman exhaling smoke came from the other end of the phone, followed by that haunting voice: "I know where Xingmian and Xiaoyu are. I've already asked my dad to send someone to pick them up. Call back the helicopter you dispatched at sea, so the port won't keep making those annoying 'whoosh whoosh' noises these past few days."
Lin Shukai squinted: "You're at the port?"
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Author's Note: I'm back, sorry to keep you waiting. I haven't spoken in the author's notes for a while because I was a bit lost, and the story was also causing me a lot of trouble. I was thinking of saying more when it was finished.
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